


His Prodigal Son

by Nightshade_sydneylover150



Category: Scrubs
Genre: F/M, Violence against JD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-09
Updated: 2009-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-08 08:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5490344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightshade_sydneylover150/pseuds/Nightshade_sydneylover150
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“As you know, I’m at a hospital right now that is in the same city as Dorian’s St. Vincent’s…” Kelso started off and that uneasy feeling in Cox’s stomach moved into his buff chest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Prodigal Son

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published on Fanfiction.net starting on 12/9/2009. I'm just moving it over here!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Cox had been waiting quite a while for Jordan to come back from the restroom with the kids. Jennifer had needed her diaper changed before they left the hospital for their evening out. Of course being Jordan, a simple ten minute diaper change had gone on for thirty minutes. Perry had taken to staring at the door and straining his bat ears for the distinctive sound of Jordan’s high heels and Jack’s squeaky sneakers. He was so intent on willing Jordan to walk through the door that Dr. Cox jumped when his cell phone went off.

‘Way to act like a girl there Per,’ Cox growled inwardly to himself. He checked the caller id and about had a conniption. “What in the hell does Satan want? Is he just in the mood to torture me?’

Perry debated whether or not to answer the call. He was off and was looking forward to an action packed night at the new indoor play area and grill that had taken up residence in a San Frangelos. Jordan has been gone for a long time and at least talking to Kelso will kill time and make the Succubus frustrated that I’m making her wait.’

“This better be good, Bobbo,” Cox drawled out as he answered his phone. “And fast since the she-demon should be returning from her snoot in the restroom any time now. I just know you miss this place but…”

“Perry…” Kelso managed to interrupt into the conversation. There was something in Bob’s tone that stopped Cox mid-rant.

There was a long pause.

“Well are you going to tell me whatever it is that you have to tell me at this moment? Maybe that you are permanently leaving Earth and taking the Devil women back down with you to hell.” Sometimes Perry wished he could shut his mouth and stop his spew of venom. He had a feeling this was one of those times.

The silence continued and the feeling of uneasiness arose once more in Cox’s buff chest. “What has happened Bobbo?”

“As you know, I’m at a hospital right now that is in the same city as Dorian’s St. Vincent’s…” Kelso started off after a deep breath that seemed to reverberate through the cell line.

Perry’s chest tightened up even more, as the horrible feeling that he had been suppressing all day long came back in full force.

“I soooo don’t need that loooonnnggg version of events here Bobbo, just get to the point!” Cox practically shouted into the phone.

“JD is in my current hospital.” Kelso said in a rush, “With Sammy.”

Perry felt his stomach drop as he waited to continue. Still his mouth did not get the message to shut up.

“Whatever does this have to do with me?” Perry heard himself say, “I am sooo naught Mera’s keeper anymore.”

“Perry, I know this hard to believe, but I know you are full of shit. You care for the kid. Perhaps even more than any one knows.” Kelso stated. Cox could practically hear the man’s little patience straining to keep hold of his tongue. “JD was admitted after being beaten unconscious. We know his left arm was broken in at least three places from where he attempted to protect Sammy.”

The younger doctor’s eyes shut by themselves and his lungs drew in a ragged breath as he sunk back into his office chair that he had not even realized he had left.

“Dorian has you listed as Sammy’s only medical proxy and as his godfather. JD also has you listed as his, so do your job and get up here.” The last bit was practically an order, reminiscent of the Bob Kelso of Sacred Heart.

Perry had to restrain himself from snapping back at the older doctor. At the same time he was a little puzzled that Gandhi was not Margaret’s proxy, let alone Sammy’s godfather. “Why isn’t Kim taking care of Sammy? She’s his mother. And even if she isn’t there, why isn’t Barbie.”

“Kim’s in custody. And before you ask, she is being held in connection with the men who attacked JD and Sammy.” Kelso took a breath, “I tried to reach Dr. Reid, but she hung up the phone as soon as I mentioned Dorian, stating that ‘she doesn’t want to talk about the whiny little jerk.’”

Perry rolled his eyes, it would be just like Barbie and Ginger to have a tiff and have a minor break-up. Honestly, as much as he believed in “true love” (though he would never admit it!) he sometimes wondered if Elliot and Newbie’s fighting wasn’t more toxic then his and Jordan early fights that led to the divorce.

“So she cannot be bothered to take help him because of a lover quarrel. This is the second time she has done this to me! Serious, if she really thinks that just because she has slept with him, she doesn’t have to deal with his problems, she has another thing coming. I am honestly considering taking the hit, if it means I don’t have to deal with his problems if she can get away with this again!!” Cox ranted, hiding his fear behind his normal façade. “And Kim! What does that little girl think she is doing? First she decides to play house with the girl, then she breaks up with him, dangles the kid and his ‘cuteness’ in front of my Newbie, taunting the girl until Mary gives into her biological clock and takes off to work at a different hospital.”

“Are you done yet?”

“I’m just starting…..”

Kelso cut Perry off before he could go any farther. “Too bad, because you are now. Kim is being held because she was drinking with St. Vincent’s two top surgeons and three of their top doctors, one of whom was a diagnostician of the same caliber as Dr. House in Princeton, who were the perpetrators.”

“That’s ludicrous, no one is as good as House!” Perry replied, mostly out of shock from what he was hearing.

Bobbo paused a second after Perry’s outburst, before he continued. “Perry, she had Sammy in the bar with her, according to witnesses. They said that she had given him something.”

Perry heard the unspoken question. He paused, taking a deep breath in, just as Jordan walked into his office.

“Perry, are we going now or what? The kids won’t stay presentable for long and we don’t want to have to wait forever….” Jordan trailed off when she saw the serious and concerned look on Perry’s face.

“Are you going to come?” Kelso asked

“Do the test. You have my approval.” Perry finally responded as he looked at his two children. What would he do if anything ever happened to his babies? “We’ll be there as fast as we can.”

Jordan watched as Perry hung up the phone, his face looked as haggard as it had been when Jennifer was having pre-natal surgery. She readjusted Jennifer to rest on her left shoulder. Jack just looked up at his father, puzzled as to why his father was not excited to go to the restaurant.  

“Sally?” Jordan asked

“Newbie.” Perry confirmed with a nod.

“Okay kids, change of plans,” Jordan said as she turned to Jack, “We’re going to visit Aunt Joanna.”

She glanced back at Perry and saw his keys were already in his hands. Jack realized something important was going on and did not complain, but decided to watch what would happen.

“Let’s go,” was all Dr. Cox said as he walked out the door past his family and to the parking lot.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kelso was waiting for them in the doorway of Mary Magdalene’s when Jordan’s Mazda sped into the parking lot.  Little JD (‘Jennifer, it’s Jennifer!’ Perry’s mind screamed) was happily babbling in her car seat.  Jack was giggling at how crazily his father was driving.  Jordan was just surprised that the cops had not pulled their car over for going twenty miles over in a fifty five mile an hour speed zone.

 Dr. Cox grabbed his little girl out of her car seat and Jordan grabbed Jack.  In the car they had discussed what they wanted to do with the children, not wanting any of them to have to stay at the hospital for longer than a few hours.  It had been decided that Jordan would call her mother and have her come and pick Jennifer and Jack up, and Sammy if he was well enough to be released.  Mrs. Sullivan would watch the kids until Jordan and Perry were able to pick them up. 

Both parents walked quickly up to where Dr. Kelso was standing in the doorway.  They had just reached the glass doors when Perry started to question the older doctor.

“What happened? When did JD come in?”  Perry’s calm demeanor was betrayed by the questions tone and by his use of his protégé’s real name.

“He came in three hours ago.  The EMTs had been called by an off-duty co-worker who had been passing by the area of the attack.  She stopped the fight when she pulled out a bottle of pepper spray and nailed the perpetrators in the eyes.”  Kelso stated quickly as he walked the family to the elevator.  Jordan and Jack lagged behind giving her ex and Kelso some privacy.

Dr. Cox shifted his daughter to his left shoulder.  “How badly was Newbie hurt? What is the diagnosis?”

“The MRI and CAT scans of his brain came back clean, but there is still some worry that he has sustained some damage that cannot be seen.”  Kelso left Perry to interpret the meaning behind his words.

 Dr. Cox felt his stomach tighten once more as he tried to picture his Newbie acting differently, having a different personality then the one he had come to know and begrudgingly…. God was it hard to admit…. love.

Kelso continued speaking as he watched the various emotions filter across the younger doctor’s face.  “The surgeons are just finishing putting the pins into Dorian’s left arm. The one fracture broke skin and was extremely bad.  One was a hairline and one was a spiral fracture.”

Perry was glad they had reached the wall with the elevator because he needed something to lean on in case the weakness that was overtaking his legs caused them to give.  He glanced back at Jordan.  She met his eyes and closed her eyes in an almost imperceptible fashion. She knew it was bad.

“The surgeons have not released any of the exact problems for ~~the~~ fear that they would be leaked to the media before you got here.” Kelso’s words brought Perry’s attention back to the conversation.  He pressed the button to call the elevator to the first floor. “We all thought it was best that the people he is closest to find out from someone they know.” 

“Where is Sammy?  How badly is he hurt?” Perry asked as the elevator arrived on the ground floor. His voice almost broke when he asked, “Is he going to be alright?”

‘Perry’s weakness has always been children.  Especially those from rough circumstances.’ Kelso thought to himself as he entered the elevator.

“He is in pediatrics with a sprained wrist and some bruising waiting for you to arrive.  He is free to be released to your care as soon as the paper work has been filed.” Kelso paused for a moment, “JD took the majority of the beating.”

Perry and his daughter entered the elevator as well, but not before turning back to Jordan.  He mouthed “Peds” and she nodded understanding and indicated she would follow him and Jennifer up.

As the doors closed, Dr. Cox turned back to Kelso.  “Tell me the extent of Sammy’s injuries and how he is doing.” The younger doctor demanded.

“He has mostly bruising with a few minor contusions.”  Kelso stated with a touch of amusement.  “His MRI, CAT scan, and x-rays came back clean.  We are still waiting on the tox screen, so you’ll have to wait until it comes back to find out whether you can actually take him home with you tonight.”

“That’s fine and dandy Bobbo,”  Perry replied, “But how is he doing?”

“How do you think he is doing Perry?” Kelso asked with a hint of derision.  “He is scared out of his mind.  His father was beaten right in front of him in order to protect him.  His mother was taken to the jail to be questioned and as soon as he got to the hospital, his father was torn away from him.”

Perry sighed and turned his eyes towards the elevator doors.  For the rest of the way up to pediatrics he was silent.  The fire in his eyes flickered.  For the first time in this whole mess he had a chance to really think about what was happening.  He had so many questions.  Some were for JD, like why _he_ was Sammy’s godfather and not Ghandi?  Why would the kid do that?  Bernadette had always been attempting new and creative ways to stay in his life when he was at Sacred Heart.  But the kid had been the one who had left in the end, still perhaps that was what the entire godfather thing was.

Other questions were for Miss Uro, like how she could take her own kid to a bar.  Granted, he had done it once.  However, he had not given his son anything, like it had appeared the Blond dimbo had. Why had she been meeting with the very men who had beat Felicity up. 

Then there was Barbie.  First of all where was she?  She was Newbie’s girlfriend, if not more by now.  Why was she not here with him?  Why had she hung up the phone when Kelso had called her?  What right did she have to make him pick up the pieces again, while she walked away scotch clean?

Finally the elevator reached the Peds floor.  For Dr. Cox it had seemed like a ride that had last an eternity without the benefit of any “ah hah” moments or greater insight into the situation.  He glanced down at his daughter and could not help feeling a swell of protectiveness rise up in his chest.  He would do anything for his children, as would Jordan and it seemed so would JD.

Shaking off that thought path, Perry took a deep breath, his large chest rising up, as he paused before following Kelso into the unit.  He had always had problems with being in Ped’s and NICU, they made his stomach hurt.  Children, in his mind,  never deserved to be hurt.  Especially when they had done nothing to earn such pain.

Perry followed Kelso into a room decorated with teddy bears doing ballet and playing basketball.  A small smile tried to make its way onto Dr. Cox’s face when he thought about an older Sammy attempting to get his father how to teach him how to play basketball. 

‘Hopefully the kid will actually be manly and learn.’ Perry thought to himself with a laugh. He pictured the same older Sammy coming to him to learn how to play basketball, while a nervous Newbie looked on. ‘May be that is why the kid chose me. Nahhh’

All his positive, fun-filled thoughts left his head when he saw Sammy and was reminded of the present situation.  Sammy did not look to bad physically, but there was something about his eyes that looked pained.  A pain that should never be present in any child’s eyes if Dr. Cox had his own way.

“When will the tox screen come back?” Perry asked quietly, staring out the child who was staring back at him and JD ( _Jennifer!_ ).

“Within the next hour, I told the lab to put a rush on it.” Kelso replied understanding why Cox was not looking at him.  He may not be the friendliest or the most family oriented person, but he did have a son and he did care about what happened to the people he worked with; no matter how cold and indifferent he acted.

“Unk Pwwee?” Cox’s attention was drawn to the voice coming from the bed.  He did not even realize that Sammy was beginning to speak.  Then again so was his daughter, but it always seemed like Jen was much older than Sammy.

“Yes, Sammy?” Perry asked, thinking of the many ways he was going to get Sophie back for teaching her son to call him by his first name.  All the while he made sure that he did not wake his sleeping daughter, granted when she was out, she slept like the dead.

“Ddda?” 

“He is here in the hospital Sammy, you’ll see him when he is feeling better.” Perry replied to the question.  He could not help thinking that if he had not had Jack and Jennifer, he would never be able to understand his godson’s questions.

“That’s right Sammy.”  A voice called from behind Dr. Cox.  He turned and saw Jordan holding Jackie’s hand as she walked through the doorway.  “But for right now, we are going to watch over you, is that okay?”

“Ant Jor Jor,” Sammy squealed and held out his arms.  Jordan looked at Kelso and Perry, who both nodded their assent.  The she demon smiled gently (‘now isn’t that an oxymoron!’), let go of Jack’s hand and lifted Sammy up. She began to rock him slowly as she sat down on the bed.

It had always amazed Perry how good his ex-wife was with children, which might explain how she tricked them into her candy house.  But in all seriousness she handled children very well, just not adults.

“Mommy taking care of Auntie Joanna’s son, Daddy?” Jack inquired of his father.  Perry looked down at his son and nodded.

“Yes, Sammy is going to be hanging out with Jennifer and you while his Daddy is healing.” He smiled at his son and tried to cover up his worry for Newbie.

Jackster nodded slowly, taking in his father’s smile and reading the sadness in his eyes. “Is Aunt Joana okay Daddy?” 

Jack’s words set him back.  He hadn’t realized that Jack realized the seriousness of the situation.

“I hope so, Jack. I hope so.”

 

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Cox sat off to the side of his protégé’s bed just watching.  It was difficult to see JD so still when he was such a rambunctious man-child.  For the first time in his nine years of knowing JD, he wished the kid would tip his head to the side, just so that Cox would know whether his Newbie was in there or not. God was he going soft!

The door open and closed which caused Cox to jump.  He saw his ex-wife standing by the door. Jordan was just silently was looking over at JD, when she turned her attention to her husband. Perry saw Jordan’s eye widen in surprise, which she easily recovered from.  She then nodded her head towards the bed that held the recovering brunette.

“No, he hasn’t woken up yet.” Cox responded to the unanswered question.  “I just wish the kid would show some sign of life, I have never seen him so still.  Even when he was mourning his father or when he got his appendix out.  He was always moving.”

Jordan nodded slowly and moved over to the chair next to Perry.  She placed her hand on her ex-husband’s arm.  It was in these little moments that she showed how much she loved him.  Perry just turned his head to watch over his protégé once more, comforted that his wife was there watching over him.

“He was planning on coming back to Sacred Heart.”  Cox stated looking straight at the younger doctor while talking to Jordan. 

Jordan glanced over at the older doctor.  She was not surprised that JD was coming back, and she was sure that he was still going to be coming back.  No, she was surprised that Cox had not told her or complained about the “little girl” running back to daddy.  Something had changed.  There was something Perry was not telling her.  For now she would be patient.

Perry felt his wife tense up in surprise and could feel her eyes on his face.  It was his gift to know when he was being watched and when someone was behind him.  No matter how sneaky JD had been on those last few minutes of that last day, Dr. Cox had known that his protégé was behind him.  He just had not wanted to admit that he knew JD was behind him.  Because that meant he had actually wanted to tell that little girl how much he, the great Dr. Cox, cared about him.  It almost made him sick to his stomach.

“We had met last week.  He told me he was tendering his resignation at St. Vincent’s this week and he planned to return next week.”  Perry fell silent for a moment.  He slowly turned towards Jordan and looked her in the eyes. “I was happy he was coming home.  I have always wanted Newbie to be my right hand.  That’s what I trained him to be. Now I don’t even know if he will still be him when he wakes up. “

Jordan nodded, allowing Perry to continue on undisturbed.  She could tell him later how much a girl he was being.  Right now, he just needed to talk. Even she, a cold hearted demon, understood that.

“He hasn’t even told his sorority sister that he was moving back. Only I knew because he wanted my approval. For me to tell me that he was… doing the right thing.” He paused once more, before barreling on, “He told me that he was afraid that Ghandi would try to talk him out of it or that Carla would.”

Perry looked away again, at his protégé, this man-child who had wanted his attention so badly.  This was a lonely soul who looked up to him as a father figure.

“At first I told him that he just wanted someone’s attention.  That he needed drama and attention to survive.” Perry almost breathed out.  Every word seemed to be coated in a pain that the SOB in the future would deny until his last breath. Then there was a glimmer of Dr. Cox’s patented narcissism. “He did not have to go this far to get my attention.”

There was a long silence and Jordan realized that Perry had finally finished his long rambling rant.  She smiled inwardly at the fact that her feelings inept husband had finally admitted to caring about the kid.  Jordan may not always care about others, okay hardly ever care about others, but she had wanted Perry to admit his feelings.  She knew how her overprotective “girl” felt about the other little “girl.”

“I called the Stick and managed to convince her to come to the hospital.  She is freaking out like a wuss.  Chiquita and Pinball head are coming after their shifts end.” Jordan stated as she turned her head also to watch over DJ.

“As for him wanting to tell you first, it makes sense.  He has always sought your approval and you know how much he cares about your input.”  She placed her hand on her husband’s once more.  “Look I know he is your best friend and how much it killed you to watch him walk away.  But he is coming home.  If anything, this will make him want to come home more.”

Perry turned his head to look at her and the look in his eyes was, dare Jordan think it, hopeful.  This prompted Jordan to continue, this time with a little vitrol. “At least at home he knows who his enemies are.”

“Sa… Sammy?”  A soft, groggy and raspy voice called out from the bed. Both older adults looked over at the younger doctor.  His eyes were still closed.

“It’s okay DJ, Sammy is safe.  We sent him over to my mother’s with Jack and Jennifer.”  Jordan stated to the young man.  “The most damage he might have is a little ingestion from eating raw baby flesh.”

That caused Perry to chuckle. “You know, you and your mother truly are demons.”

 Jordan inwardly smiled. A point scored in her favor.

“Ba… baby flesh?  They’re eating my boy?”  JD whispered with his eyes still closed. His voice was filled with fear and anger.  “You can’t have him.  He is mine.”

“It’s okay JD.  Sammy is fine.  The demon lady’s mother won’t do anything to him.”  Dr. Cox stated slowly. He purposely used JD real ‘name’ to comfort the young father.  The last thing he needed was JD to dislocate any more bones.  Plus it was already going to take a month for the kid to be well enough to at least supervise residents, interns and med students. “You need to open your eyes now, JD.”

Slowly JD opened his eyes, eyelids fluttering.  Then he looked over at where the voices had been coming from. He blinked his eyes rapidly and attempted to rub them, only to be hindered on the left side by his being in traction. 

“Per… Perry?  J… Jor… Jordan?”  JD managed to stutter out.  “What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to take you home.”  Perry said abruptly.  He slapped his hand over his mouth.  He so had naught meant to say that.

“Ho.. home?”  JD parroted.  His eyes light up a little and a little hope edged out the fear.

“Of course!  You have tons of shifts to make up for the stunt you pulled.”  Cox stated matter a factly.  He had to recover his reputation, he did.  “And don’t you think for onnnnnnnne minute that you are getting out of it.  Noooooope.  You better be prepared to be very busy.”

JD opened his mouth to reply, a small smile gracing his lips, when he was cut off.

“Why did you miss your lap dog that much that you just can’t wait to get him home?”  A voice called from the doorway.

Perry and Jordan turned to face the door, but not before seeing the look of absolute terror that came over JD’s face for a split second.

“I mean, can’t you allow him to have a little happiness without bossing him around?”  Barbie asked. 

At that moment, Dr. Cox and Jordan shared a single thought.  ‘She looks like death incarnate.’ 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“I mean, can’t you allow him to have a little happiness without bossing him around?” Elliot spat at Dr. Cox and Jordan.

“Elliot,”JD whispered hoarsely. She was here. ‘Why is she here?’

Elliot did not hear him. She just continued to glare at Jordan and Dr. Cox.

JD spared a glance at Dr. Cox and Jordan only to find them standing slack jawed. But it was only for a moment. The next thing JD knew Perry and Jordan were standing in defensive postures on his left hand side.

Dr. Cox had stood up and now had his arms crossed in front of him. Whereas Jordan stood with her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot on the hospital floor. Seeing his mentor and the hell beast gave JD strength to face the woman in front of him.

“Elliot…” JD tried again, only to have Elliot cut him off.

“No JD, don’t try to explain. You don’t need to. I won’t let this jerk take away your happiness.” Elliot said as she moved to the opposite side of the bed, placing JD in between   Dr. Cox, Jordan and herself.

As she reached out to hold JD’s hand, the young doctor felt his heart begin to race in his chest and felt his breath hitch.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Cox began to pull away from JD, wondering if he had made a mistake by interpreting the disorganized and messy-looking young female doctor as a threat. He wanted to give the young couple a moment of respite in this hectic time. That was until the sight of Newbie flinching away from Elliot stopped him.

Then the older doctor fully took in the sight before him. JD was paler than he had been when Dr. Cox had first arrived in the younger doctor’s room. The look in the young man’s eyes was one of a frightened and trapped animal.

Anger flared up in Perry’s bulky chest, driving out the uncomfortable feeling of fear which had set up residence there since he had first found out JD had been hurt protecting Sammy. He glanced at his wife to see if she had caught the scared look in Newbie’s eyes. Jordan met his glance with a steely one.

However, it was the sense of caution that Perry had developed at a young age from living with an abusive father and a neglectful mother that kept him from going off on Barbie. Something was off, other than Barbie’s behavior. He then realized it was Samantha’s behavior that was the most disturbing.

He had already realized from JD’s flinching that there was a major problem going on with Elliot’s and JD’s home life. While Jordan and his own relationship had been extremely toxic, neither had ever resorted to using their fists when they fought. JD’s behavior suggested that physical violence was present in Elliot’s and his relationship.

The young doctor reminded Perry too much of the life he had left behind with his childhood. It was behaviors like JD which dredged up very memories which caused him to dread seeing his sister.

Perry glanced once more at his ex-wife, right as Elliot attempted for the third time to grab Newbie’s hand. This time Mackenzie drew back violently, causing him to upset his broken arm. Both Jordan and Perry caught the look on JD’s face as he experience the excruciating pain of jarring his already broken arm.

A quick glance at Elliot confirmed both Perry’s and Jordan’s suspicions, Barbie had not even noticed that JD was in pain. Both were about to take Barbie’s head off when they heard a soft voice.

“Yo… you’v… you’ve got th... the wr… wrong idea Elli... Elliot.” JD said as firmly as he could through the pain and the haze of the anesthesia.

“No I don’t JD.” Elliot countered, but JD just looked away from her. “This man wants to destroy our happy lives.”

She grabbed JD’s right hand and his left arm in an attempt to get JD to look at her. JD screamed. Elliot had grabbed the cast on his bad arm right in the place where the bone broken the skin and had shook him.

Cox quickly switched into doctor mode after hearing his protégé’s scream “Jordan, go get the Kelso and tell him that JD just had his arm disturbed and is in a great deal of pain. Tell him to come down here immediately. Then run to the ice machine and grab some ice chips for Newbie’s throat.”

The older doctor, although fully in doctor mode, had no problem glaring and sneering at Elliot who seemed to be oblivious to JD’s pain. He barely acknowledged that Jordan had nodded and was out of the door.

His entire focus was on Elliot. He was in what JD and other at Sacred Hospital referred to as full-blown rant mode.

“How dare you attack and accuse me of things when you obviously do naught know the whole story, nooor do you seem to care that you are hurting the man yooou proclaim to love. I know that you just want to hold on to whatever sparkly dream life that you think that you currently have, but you can naught honestly thing for one minute… No, even one second that JD should continue to work at the same hospital as the men, and I use the term loosely, who attacked Sammy and him.”

Elliot just pushed her hair back off her face and glared at Dr. Cox. “I’m sure that Dr. Finch will fire the jerks and everything will be fine.”

“Ell… Elliot… let me … splain…” JD started, but this time it was Dr. Cox who cut him off.

“No. No. Nooooo! I don’t think so. Everything is not fine. It is soooo naught fine. And if you were not so oblivious, you’d realize that you were hurting Newbie.” Perry drew himself up to his full height and was practically leaning over the bed in an attempt to intimidate Elliot into letting JD’s hand and arm go.

“Elliot….” JD tried again to get Elliot’s attention.

“Shush now JD. You don’t need to explain or worry about anything.” Elliot calmly stated as she stared Dr. Cox down and tightened her grip on JD’s hand and arm. This caused JD to have to bite back a scream. “I will get this jerk away from you and everything will be fine again.”

Perry then realized that Elliot was not responding to anything he had said. It was almost as if she was in her own little world and was incapable of seeing anything for what it actually was. So he attempted another tactic in an attempt to get Elliot to release JD’s arm before she did more damaged to the arm and broke the younger male doctor’s right hand.

“I think you are really hurting him Elliot.” Perry stated in a calm, patient voice.

 

 _______________________________________________________________________________________-

 

JD, who had been biting his lip to keep from embarrassing himself by screaming again, quickly glanced over at his mentor to see if he had not been replaced by a pod person.

When JD had confirmed that it was, in fact, Dr. Cox he realized the significance of that voice and tone. It was the one that indicated that Perry was the most dangerous.

JD had only heard that tone twice before.

The first time, ironically, the tone of voice had only barely been there right before Dr. Cox punched Kelso out for ragging on Elliot. The second time was really the only time JD had heard that tone of voice in full force. It had been when Jack’s nanny had almost gotten the young boy killed. She had left him alone in the kitchen with a sharp knife laying out where the curious three-year-old was could reach it.

Before those moments, JD had believed that Dr. Cox was always loudly yelling when he was truly angry. After those experiences, JD realized that the man was often more quiet when he was truly angry. Now Elliot was facing Perry’s quiet anger. And at that moment with his head throbbing, his mind confused and his soul terrified, JD found he did not care one bit.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

At that moment with his head throbbing and his mind as fuzzy as cotton candy, JD could not wrap his head around why Perry was defending him as if he was one of the older doctor’s children. The man had so rarely shown him any signs of affection, that this subtle one was astounding.

The older doctor caught JD’s confused look. ‘So he does have a little bit of mental damage.  Perfectly understandable for a girl like Ginger who has such a soft head.’

With those thoughts, Dr. Cox turned his full attention back to Elliot, who was busy spitting out venom.

“JD knows that I care about him. I show him daily. I know that that is a foreign concept for you, Dr. Narcissistic, showing signs of affection.” Elliot screamed at the older doctor, who was uncharacteristically just standing there with a calm look on his face.

Perry looked down at JD for a moment, this young man who looked so lost. He reminded Cox of Jack when he was two-years old and had had to have stitches put in his chin from where the toddler had hit the YMCA’s pool bottom.  So lost, confused, pained and shocked.  All those emotions could be used to describe the young doctor in the hospital bed.

 “I care for him a great deal.  He knows when he doesn’t have a concussion that I care.  I’ve shown him many times by being there when he truly needed someone.”  Perry calmly said while looking Elliot straight in the eyes.  He could feel the rage pumping his veins.  It was this feeling that drove him to say the next thing. “How many times have you done that recently?”

That sparked a memory in JD’s mind.  He could clearly see himself standing behind Dr. Cox as the older doctor told one of his old interns that JD was his friend.  JD suddenly remembered that he had come home and told Elliot.

“He cares. He said so.” JD croaked out, although it sounded more like a barely audible death bed confession than a croak. “I told you after I got home that night.  It’s fuzzy, but I remember telling you about it.”

Elliot just clicked her tongue in a tisk-tisk fashion and shook her head.

“How many times do I have I told you JD that you just imagined that Dr. Cox said all those nice things.”  Elliot commented nonchalantly, seemly not caring that JD’s face had taken on a crushed look.  “This man has done nothing but verbally abuse you since your first day at Sacred Heart.”

She turned and glared at Dr. Cox in a menacing fashion.  Then she turned back to face JD.

“Besides, why would anyone waste his or her breath over a good for nothing creature like you?” Elliot commented with almost nonchalantly.

  For a moment, Perry did not even recognize the woman in front of him.  This woman was not the over-excitable, semi-confident, but sweet young woman he had come to know over the years.  As he watched his protégé’s face become a mask of indescribable sadness, Perry realized that this was a woman who made Jordan look like a saint.

He was, for lack of better words, absolutely stunned.  He glanced over at his wife and Kelso who had just walked through the door as Elliot had unleashed her debilitating comment.  They looked as surprised as he was and Cox could tell that Jordan was quickly becoming as furious as he was. His wife’s silence was even more deadly than his own.  Very few people realized that.

‘No wonder JD didn’t mentioned Elliot at all in his plans to return to Sacred Heart if she has been acting like this for a long period of time.  What could have possibly happened to Elliot that caused her to act so nasty to the person she loved so much?’ Perry thought to himself before shaking himself mentally.  That did not matter now.  What mattered was getting Elliot out of JD’s hospital room.

Perry glanced over at JD and all he saw was pain and devastation.  It had only been a few months since JD had left Sacred Heart, but when Dr. Cox looked into JD’s eyes…. He saw a worn out young man.  There was more to JD’s story than what the younger doctor said about his desire to come home to Sacred Heart. JD had a look in his eyes that Perry had seen so many times, in so many faces, but mostly in his own face when he looked in the mirror as a child.  JD was being abused.  Cox just knew it.

Cox turned his now hardening gaze towards Elliot.  This time he looked through the lens of not only a worried parent, but also an experienced doctor and an abuse survivor.  What he saw did not surprise him as much as he thought it would.  Elliot was a hardened woman, that fact was apparent.  Gone was the friendly and neurotic young female doctor from three months ago who had moved from her private practice from Sacred Heart to one in the same area as JD’s job at St. Vincent’s. When the experience doctor looked in Elliot’s eyes, he saw only rage and deadness. 

“Get out Dr. Reid.” Dr. Cox said in the same soft, quiet voice as before.  However there was an edge present in it that had not been there before which caused JD to look up at his mentor.  For the first time he realized that Perry had his hand on him in a protective fashion and that his mentor’s eyes were like those of a protective parent.

Dr. Cox continued to speak, even as JD studied in through his concussed and anesthesia scrambled mind. “You are not JD’s proxy, nor are you apparently a loved one at this point in time.”

Cox rose to his full height and stared hard into Elliot’s deadened eyes.

 “Get out,” the older doctor commanded. “Or I’ll have Kelso call security.”

The fire in Barbie’s eyes became a full out blaze.  “You’ll do no such thing.  You can’t, JD won’t let you.  And even if he wants me gone, he allow me to stay after taking away what was mine.”

Elliot’s words confused both Perry and JD to the point that neither one of them spoke.  Jordan did not have the same problem.  She neither cared what Elliot’s problem was, nor why she was being so evil.  She just wanted her gone.

“I suggest if you value your life, Stick, you’ll get out.” The older woman stated calmly, in her ‘I don’t give a care what you think’ voice.  There was an edge to it, though, which rivaled the one that had been in Cox’s voice. “Because I must admit as amusing as seeing security drag you out may be, seeing Perry pummel you into oblivion while I break your nose in sounds much more satisfying.”

JD just lay in bed with a look of wonderment and absolute confusion.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

*JD’s perception*

“I suggest if you value your life, Stick, you’ll get out.” Jordan stated in almost an off handed voice.  The edge in her voice gave away her concern for JD and her anger at Elliot.  “Because I must admit as amusing as it may be to see security drag you out, seeing Perry pummel you into oblivion while I break your nose sounds even more appealing.”

If JD had not been staring at Jordan in utter confusion and wonderment, he would have missed the older woman’s eyes flashing gold.  Even then he believed that it was a hallucination. 

‘It has to be the anesthetic.’ JD thought to himself, ‘it has to be, because there is no way I just saw what I thought I saw.’

JD was brought out of his deep thoughts by Perry. The injured doctor turned his head to focus entirely on the Irishman.

“Get out Elliot or else!” The older doctor growled out.  And when JD said growled, he really and truly meant that the older doctor growled.  Dr. Cox was obviously angry beyond words.

So it was not as a big shock when, during the course of JD starring at his mentor and friend, that he saw the older man’s blue eyes shift to gold and his incisors lengthen and sharpen. His forehead became bumpy and more pronounced. 

‘I don’t believe we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,’ JD thought to himself. ‘Monsters, werewolves, and vampires, oh my!’

This caused him to snort, drawing Elliot’s attention away from Cox for a split second to stare at her boyfriend in disbelief.  She quickly recovered and returned her attention back to the being that posed the most threat to her.

Perry on the other hand just shot JD a boyish grin before his face returned, for the most part, to the older doctor’s typical scowl for when he was dealing with JD and his friends.

His gold eyes bored into Elliot’s as she wearily watched his body for a sign that he was going to attack.

“Get out Barbie.” Perry, golden eyes flashing, hissed loudly enough for Elliot to hear him. “Turquoise is ours. You cast him out and we took him back in.”

JD, although he was already sure who the other person in the ‘we’ was, glanced quickly over at Jordan.  Sure enough, the older woman also had golden eyes, sharp, long canines, and forehead ridges like her husband.  However, JD got the impression that Jordan’s were more snake like for some reason.  They were smaller and smoother than Perry’s.  

Jordan hissed at Elliot and came over to stand by Perry beside JD’s bed.  JD felt a cool, feminine hand grasp his fingers right below his cast.  At that moment, JD felt more loved than he had ever felt before.

“You’re fighting a losing battle Stick.” Jordan stated, hand still in JD’s, as if to reassure him of his place in the family.  “DJ is our prize and now that you’ve thrown him away, you’ll never get your precious, itty-bitty chew toy back.”

Elliot stared at them blankly for a moment, as if she could not believe that these two wanted JD in any fashion.  Let alone as a family member.

“You have no claim on him demons.” Elliot spit out, once she recovered her voice, from her position on JD’s right side.

“That’s what you choose to believe, pumpkin.” Dr. Cox just smirked.

 “Then again you’ve been focusing so much on your own misery to even notice Risika.” He then cocked his head to the side, “which is quite an accomplishment since you were beating him every other night.”

JD just starred at Dr. Cox in amazement.  “I never told you all that,” The younger doctor whispered.

“You never had to, JD.” Perry responded, “Your body did it for you.”

It appeared as if Elliot had not heard JD’s whispered words, nor Cox’s response.  She just continued to talk.

“JD, we have to get you out of here before they kill us both.”  Elliot whispered to JD.

JD glanced over at Perry and Jordan who were now holding each other in a passionate embrace, but were watching the two younger people with great interest.  Both grinned at the younger doctor in a fashion which reminded JD of little kids who were keeping a secret from their parents.  It was a “we-know-something-you-don’t” type of grin.  JD turned his head back to face Elliot, who was both looking at him with concern and keeping a wary eye on the vampires.

“You don’t have to worry Elliot.” JD found himself stating in calm, soothing voice.  “Especially about me. Especially after everything that has happened.”

Elliot stared down at JD in surprise.  “Of course I have to worry about you!  You are the love of my life.”

JD shook his head, “You and I both know that isn’t true anymore, so why do you keep lying to yourself?”

Elliot appeared to not hear him, as he watched her feel around in her bag.  Her face turned deathly pale and she reached out to hold JD’s hand gently.

“JD, I don’t have my stakes with me.”  Elliot whispered in terror.  “I cannot protect you anymore.”

“Well, in that case,” JD heard himself say and felt his lips curl up into a smirk as his face shifted.  If that wasn’t a surprise, he didn’t know what was. “I guess they did bring me some to-go.”

Elliot opened her mouth to scream, but it didn’t matter because JD’s hand was covering her mouth before she could even get a squeak out.  Then as quick as an asp, JD had his fangs in Elliot’s neck.  She beat his chest with her fists, trying to get away from the demon which inhabited her lover’s body.  JD could not help thinking, at least the part that was surprised at his vampire status, as he drank down the sweet tasting blood that all that pounding would have made his chest hurt if he was still human.

Elliot, on the other hand was fighting for her life, literally.  However, she knew it was over when she felt two more sets of fangs bite into her flesh.  She actually bite down hard on JD’s hand in surprise and tried once more to scream.  The female doctor could see a flash of red hair on her right side and a brown head of hair attached to her right wrist. JD let his hand leave Elliot’s mouth when he felt his kindred latch on.

‘They must have crossed the room to get over here.’ Elliot mused briefly in her mind as her mind became cloudy. Still, she had the presence of mind to be curious; granted morbidly.

“Why are you doing this to me, demon?” Elliot whispered as she felt herself growing weaker and colder with every passing second as the vampires siphoned blood out of her body. “Do you just want to cause suffering to all those who were important to the man you killed?”

JD pulled away and looked at the dying woman.  The part of him that was still human wondered the same thing, but that was not the part that answered Elliot’s question.

“You hurt me Elliot. Physically, emotionally, and verbally. You told me to hide who I was and threatened my son because he lived.”  JD paused, the part of him which was still the hurt young man in the hospital bed, felt a rush of relief.  As if this was right.  He stayed silent for a moment, watching Perry and Jordan suck down the female doctor’s blood and felt anticipation curl up in his stomach. 

His sires drew up their heads at JD’s words, understanding that he needed to do this.  They would give their childe what he needed.  They understood the need for closure.

“What happened to the sweet girl who loved me?  What turned you into the vicious monster that came so close to hurting my son?” JD quietly asked as he watched as Elliot’s heart continued its futile attempts to pump blood through her body. 

“Well no more.” He stated almost as quietly as the light began to fade from her eyes. JD trailed his finger down the woman’s cheek, before he released her body from his grasp and it fell to the floor.

 “But I’ll still wonder.” JD stated looking down at the body of his dead ex-girlfriend before looking up into Jordan and Perry’s smiling faces.

“I wonder the same thing.” A voice stated from JD’s left.

JD turned to his left and saw Perry sitting in a chair on the left side of his bed.  His face was normal, but looked more haggard than usual. 

The younger man glanced back to his right, searching around for Elliot’s body or the blood he knew he had taken from her. 

There was nothing.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

*4 hours after Elliot escapade*

“But I’ll still wonder.” JD murmured from the bed. His eyes closed tighter than they had been for the last four hours.

“I wonder the same thing.” Perry stated quietly. 

He watched the confusion that crossed JD’s face as the younger man turned and looked at him.  Perry had to keep himself from laughing when he saw the younger doctor quickly look over to his right, searching…

“If you are looking for the evidence of your vampiric blood bath, you can rest assured that in was all in your vivid imagination.”Perry stated to the young vampire wanna-be, Chanterelle.

“How did you know?!?” JD questioned in a voice that was hardly louder than a whisper.

Perry smiled for a second.  That alone was enough to freak JD out.  When has Dr. Cox ever smiled at him?

Perry had to hold in his laughter at watching his protégée freak out over a smile thrown his way.  Any other day Perry would love to see the boy squirm, but the boy had been through enough today.

“You talked while you were hallucinating.”  Perry simply stated.  He watched as JD relaxed into the pillows.  “You just kept mentioning the word vampire and blood over and over again.”

JD gave Perry a weird look, before he opened his mouth to protest. “But I never said either of those words in my dream!”

“I guessed.  You were talking about bumps and golden eyes.” Perry stated quietly. He wondered if JD would catch what else that statement meant.

“So what? How did you get vampires out of that….” JD started protesting before he suddenly stopped.  He looked down and then looked questioningly at Dr. Cox. “You watched it too?”

“Now Newbie I didn’t say that…” Perry argued while thinking the whole while, ‘good girl Tara, you’re still with me.’

JD smiled softly.  It hurt where the surgeons had split his lip. “You didn’t have to.”

Perry grunted in reply as he settled back into the chair with his book. Amelia Atwater Rhodes was a good writer.  Only a few more months until her next book.

“She hurt me.” JD stated quietly.

“Who Newbie?” Perry tried to sound as nonchalant as he could.  “Anybody I know?”

“Elliot.” JD whispered.

Perry nodded, he wasn’t sure what JD was telling him.  He suspected but did not want to push the issue.  He would tell it when he felt comfortable.  After all, Perry wasn’t a shrink, his own therapist had pointed that out to him multiple times.

“She’s gone JD. Has been for hours now.” Perry knew that somehow those words would comfort his protégée, even if he wasn’t sure of the details.  Still he kept his voice nonchalant.  JD deserved to tell his own story.

“When?” JD croaked out and Perry wondered where Jordan was with those fresh ice chips.  They’d had to pour four buckets down the drain after they had completely melted.

“Four hours ago, right after you started hallucinating.”  Perry stated as he looked up and stared his protégé in his eyes.  After a second, he added, “You had these poor doctors worried about you and your imaginary dialogue.”

JD met the older doctor’s eyes.  He knew the older doctor was trying to help him in his weird way.

When the older doctor looked down, JD spoke.  “Not you though.”

“Of course not.” Perry stated looking JD once more in the eyes. ‘Liar,’ his conscience taunted.  However it didn’t stop the brash older doctor from stating, “Why would I worry about you?”

JD just smiled and Perry knew the younger man understood.

The truth was that he had been worried.  Jordan had been trying to convince him to leave his seat for two hours now in order that he could eat.  Perry had remained determined to wait out JD’s adventure into his subconscious.  AS the minutes had turned to hours, he had become more and more worried about JD’s mental state.  He worried that the MRI and CAT scan had missed something and had frequently paged Kelso and the other doctor on call to see what they could have missed.

Kelso had just told him to sit with “his son and be supportive.” Perry had wanted to deck the older doctor to stop him from saying son.  It had only been the fact that Dr. Kelso was standing on the other side of JD’s bed that had stopped Cox from acting on his desires.

“It felt so real.” JD said softly, drawing Perry back to the real world.  “I killed Elliot with your and Jordan’s help.”

Dr. Cox opened his mouth to put JD down for his overactive imagination, when he stopped.  The kid had been through a lot.  Anesthesia did make things seem more real, especially in combination with JD’s imagination. But JD committing murder in his mind?  The boy had had many different fantasies over the years, but this was over the top. Something horrible had happened.

 He remembered thinking that JD and Elliot’s relationship was more toxic than Jordan’s and his later marriage.  Elliot’s behavior had shown that there was something immensely wrong with the two younger doctors’ relationship.

“Newbie.” Perry softly called to his protégé. JD was just starring off into space.

“Newbie.” Perry called in a firmer voice and there still wasn’t a response.

“JD.” Cox stated as firmly as he could without yelling, keeping his voice soft like he would with little JD… Jennifer and Jack. That got JD’s attention. “What has been going on? When did Elliot and you start fighting like this?”

JD looked at Perry as if he had grown a second head. “You’ve never wanted to hear about my relationships before.”

“I never have been this concerned before,” Dr. Cox truthfully admitted. “All those other times, the problems were minor.  Abuse is never minor.”

JD looked away from Perry, “It’s nothing.”

Perry gently grabbed JD’s chin, “Yes it is JD.  The fact that you are denying and looking way is proof enough of that.”

JD was silent for a few minutes.  Cox was almost certain the younger doctor had slipped back into his mind, when the younger doctor finally spoke.

“Would you believe me that I did not know what happened?  That one day she was fine and the next she wasn’t.” JD stated firmly as he could with a horse, whispery voice.

“Maybe.” Perry admitted to JD.  The younger doctor did get so wrapped up in his own problems, imaginary or otherwise, that he could have easily missed obvious signs.  Not that it was the kid’s fault. He was just oblivious and naïve.

“How far has it gone?” Perry knew he should wait until the shrink on call came to visit JD but he couldn’t help attempting to ease JD’s pain.

 The boy turned his head away from him, “Hey JD, how far has it gone and when did it start.”

JD looked back over at Perry. “She hasn’t done anything to me.” JD stated point blank.

“Willa I know that they tell you in etiquette school to stand by your partner, but drop the act.” The older doctor was getting pissed off with JD’s battered wife act.  He had seen it too many times growing up and that wasn’t even in his own home, but friends.

However, when Perry saw the crushed look on JD’s face his anger faded. He softened his tone and used the gentle voice he used with his youngest children. ‘Wait… what was that?’ He shook his head mentally, ‘Not now, think about it later.’

“I already know something is going on.  So does Jordan.  We won’t think  any less of you if you tell us what has been going on.” 

“It’s nothing.” JD replied, but the tears in his eyes told a different story.  But he continued.

 “She has just been under a tremendous amount of stress lately,” JD shrugged half-heartedly, “so she has yelled a little more than usual.”

“What we just saw earlier JD wasn’t regular yelling.” Jordan called out. “That was an attempt to kill your spirit.”

Both men turned their heads to the doorway where the she-demon was standing.

“If anyone would know, it would be you, spawn of Satan.” Perry replied out of reflex.

“B..but… but I love her.” JD looked so lost.  He whispered softly, “I can’t abandon her. I promised her forever.”

“Obviously, she needs some help right now, DJ. You can’t help her.” Jordan replied in a soft voice. Perry had only heard her use that tone of voice with the kids.  “And right now you need some help that she can’t give.”

“Did I do something wrong?” JD asked in a small voice.

‘He’s just a scared little boy.’ Perry thought to himself and a look in Jordan’s direction showed that she saw the same thing.

“She just started getting angry after she took her new job.  She almost shook Sammy.”  JD whispered. Then his voice got stronger as he started to think about his son. “I wanted to get Sammy out.  I couldn’t let him grow up in an abusive home.  I survived sexual abuse.  I was not going to let him be abused.”

Perry and Jordan exchanged looks.  They had always known that JD had some problems stemming from his past.  Both of them had thought the boy had been physically abused. 

‘I should have known it was sexual.  He has so many of the symptoms.’

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong JD.” Perry stated with certainty. “I think something is going on with Elliot and whatever it is, is spilling into your personal life.”

“No.” JD insisted. “I must have done something wrong.  She never acted this way before and I’ve known her for eight years.  I must have done something, there was all that blood.”

“People change DJ.” Jordan started softly, in a voice Perry was certain Jordan only used with her children and in her most vulnerable moments with Perry. “Something happened and she has been projecting it on you.”

JD became silent, but Cox could see that the man was just internalizing Jordan’s words.

“Where did you see the blood Newbie?” Perry asked in the soft voice that he had been using for the past five minutes.

JD looked up and stated simply, “In the bathroom. But she was angry before that and there was blood before.”

Perry nodded and looked at Jordan and mouthed “Get Kelso.”

When JD didn’t say anything else, Perry tentatively placed his hand on JD’s.  When JD didn’t react, Perry pulled him into that hug that the younger doctor had always wanted. 

‘It’s a shame,’ Perry thought to himself. ‘That it took a horrible series of events for Drusilla to get it.”

JD remained silent but he laid his head on Dr. Cox’s broad shoulders.  For now JD’s silence was alright.  It was going to be a long recovery process for both JD’s physical injuries caused by the surgeons and the emotional from Elliot. 

The important thing was that he was with family now and that he would eventually be coming home…..

And all that sappy crap.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“So are you going to tell me why you dragged me up here?”  Doctor Gross’ counseling intern asked in a semi-frustrated tone.

Perry had to suppress a grin at the girl’s comment.  Since he’d met her, the girl had initiated a push/pull relationship where she gave him just enough information to help him trust her, while at the same time keeping him at a distance.  Dr. Gross had told him that he had placed the young counselor as his primary therapist as a punishment for Perry’s numerous attempts to blur boundaries and to create a dual relationship.  In other words, the girl was his punishment for attempting to become friends with his therapist.

“It’s like this….” Perry started.

 

“Where are they?” Perry shouted at Jordan once she had gotten the older man to leave JD’s room by telling him he’d be no good to ‘Mel’ (It was adventure game name day) if he didn’t at least have a cup of coffee.  “They were supposed to be here an hour ago!”

‘They’ were Carla and Turk.  JD’s best friend and his wife were supposed to have arrived at the hospital over an hour ago after their shifts at Sacred Heart had ended three hours ago.

“Maybe they just got lost on the way here.” Jordan stated calmly in an attempt to cut off her ex-husband’s tirade that she knew was coming.  “Mary Magdalene’s isn’t the easiest hospital to find.”

“No, no, no, no, noooooooo.  Carla would have called.” Perry stated with absolute certainty.  “Something is wrong. I know it.”

He pulled out his cell phone and hit number three on the speed dial.  Jordan watched her fighting partner impatiently wait for Carla to pick up the call.  She started to get slightly dizzy when Perry started to pace back and forth as he waited.  Finally, Perry stood up straight and Jordan assumed Carla had answered the phone.

“Where are you two?”  Perry exclaimed into the phone, “I at least expected Turtle head to be here by now with his other wife.  Why haven’t you called?”

Perry listened to Carla’s response and Jordan noted how rapidly the color in his face changed from its normal pallor to the color of his hair to almost white.

‘Oh yeah, he’s pissed.’ Jordan thought to herself.  ‘I wonder what the chica is telling him now.’

“What do you mean you’re not coming?!?” Perry shouted into his cell.

He paused for a moment to listen to Carla’s response and then began to shout once more.  Jordan was beginning to wonder how many of the patients in the hospital had been awakened by Perry’s overly loud cell phone conversation.  She would almost bet a few coma patients had been startled awake by now.

“I don’t care what she said!  He is really in the hospital! He has a broken arm and is a gigantic walking bruise…..” Carla must be talking once more because Perry briefly paused to listen to something on the other side of the line.

“No he is not faking it.”  Perry exclaimed more calmly as Jordan watched him attempt to take a few calming breaths in and out.  “Would I be here if he was faking it?”

‘Now that is the real question and proof that Joanna is really in trouble.  Perry doesn’t do anything for the kid when it is not a serious circumstance.’ Jordan mused to herself, wondering what the girl was telling Perry now. As she watched his face change colors once more, Jordan realized that she was probably better off not knowing at the moment.

“You are _his friends_!  You are supposed to be there for him!” Perry was once more screaming into the phone and Jordan took this opportunity to escort her partner-in-crime outside before they got kicked out.  At this rate, judging by Perry’s end of the conversation, the couple may be the only support the kid was going to have. 

“I didn’t think that this was a foreign concept that I needed to explain to you goodie-two-shoes.” Perry exclaimed.

He paused once more and Jordan watched Perry’s left hand curl up into a fist.

“This is not a joke Carla! He is being kept in the hospital until later this week and then he will be receiving physical therapy for at least four months!” Perry started pacing once more and Jordan continued to watch him clench and unclench his left fist.

“No, this isn’t like all those times he moped!”  Perry cried out angrily.  What was with these people?  Why were they never there when the kid actually needed them?!? “He isn’t looking for attention.  He isn’t looking for pity.  He needs the support of his friends.  Is that too much to ask of the two of you?”

Perry paused and listened to Carla speaking once more and he just began to shake his head back and forth.  The hand went up and brushed his nose.  Jordan knew the girl was in trouble now.

“Listen Carla, I don’t care what Barbie said.  JD is seriously injured.” Perry stated in an eerily calm voice.  The only way someone could tell he was extremely angry was the fact that he had used his Newbie’s real name. 

After a minute of listening to something on the other side of the line, Perry calmly spoke once more.  This time however, the older doctor issued a demand.

“Put Ghandi on the phone.”  Perry stated plainly into his cell.  “No, I’m not joking.  Put your husband on the line right now!”

Perry paused for a moment and Jordan assumed that Carla was grudgingly handing the phone over to the bald surgeon.

“Why aren’t you here?”  Perry asked the person on the other side of the line.  His voice was once more strangely calm. “He has been your friend since you two were in undergrad.  Why aren’t you here?”

The older doctor listened for a moment before he exclaimed, “What do you mean not anymore?  You can’t turn friendship on and off like a light switch!”

Jordan watched Perry listen to Ghandi’s voice for moment and then he let out what sounded like a harsh, barking laugh.  “Oh, you mean you’re busy again, like you were right after the kid’s father died.  I know diabetes sent your life into a huge tail spin Porky, but what could possibly be more important than your best friend this time?”

Perry was listening once more and Jordan was just observing her ex as he suddenly stopped pacing. 

“No.  I don’t want to hear you tell me that Carla heard from Elliot that JD is making a big deal out of nothing.  He’s not that young man any more.  He’s grown up.”  Perry listened for a moment and Jordan saw his hand curl up once more into a hard fist.  “I guess you haven’t.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

“Sounds like it has been a tough few days.”  The counselor stated softly as she crossed her legs underneath her on the bench in the hospital courtyard.

“You think?” Perry asked sarcastically.

The young woman gave him a withering look.  “I’m empathizing.  Go with it.”

This comment made Perry smile a little bit.

“So what was the exact reason the Turks gave for not coming to see JD?”  The counselor asked as she squinted her eyes against the onslaught of sunlight so she could see Perry more clearly.

Perry took a deep breath before he began to speak once more.  “They told me that Elliot had told them that JD was making a big deal out of a small bar fight.”

“Sounds like they don’t put much stock into what JD says.” The young woman stated quietly.

Perry snorted.  “No they don’t.  Perhaps with good reason since Stella does tend to over exaggerate certain things.  Which might have been the reason why Turk stated that he would buy JD a drink when he finally admits that he had just been in a bar fight and surviving.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah,” Perry agreed with a slow nod. “However, Newbie rarely makes a fuss when it is something serious.  That should have been a big hint that something was wrong.”

“How did JD react when you told him Turk and Carla weren’t coming?”

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Where is Turk?” JD asked when he woke up after getting his initial thrill that Perry was still at the hospital with him.

Perry looked at the man (‘little girl’ his mind screamed), that he could barely admit was his protégé, for a long moment.

“What?” JD asked catching the flash of concern and sympathy in Perry’s eyes. “When is he is getting here?”

“He isn’t coming JD.” Perry stated quietly.

“What do you mean?  Did something happen with Izzy?” JD asked in a panicked tone.

‘Poor kid.  Always thinking of others even when he is hurt.’ Perry thought to himself.  In fact the kid usually set others before himself.  ‘Too bad his friends currently do not appreciate him as they should.’

Perry worked quickly to head off the younger doctor’s fears before they completely over took the man. “No, no.  Nothing like that Rhen. He just isn’t coming.”

JD stared at his mentor blankly for a few moments before he finally spoke.

“Why not?”

Perry paused briefly, trying to collect his thoughts and weigh his options.  He had never completely lied to the kid before and he decided it was best to continue that policy.

“Elliot called them…”

Perry watched as the younger doctor’s face hardened.

“So she told them I was overreacting like I did when I originally worked at Sacred Heart,” finished JD blandly.

Dr. Cox nodded slowly and answered simply.  “Yes.”

“I guess the little boy who cried wolf finally met his match.” JD continued to speak in the same disconnected manner and finished the statement off with a casual shrug. 

But Perry felt his own heart begin to break as he watched the silent tears begin to flow down his Newbie’s face.

 

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The counselor nodded slowly, taking in the story Perry had told her.

 “Your protégé has a lot of difficulties quote ‘overreacting’ unquote I take it.” The younger woman stated with the various hand gestures.

“Yeah, he was a bit of a drama queen originally.”  Perry offered quietly staring off into space.  He then turned at truly looked at the counselor for the first time in a half an hour. “He worried about everything.  He still does.  But he isn’t that little doctor anymore.”

The counselor smiled softly and quirked her eyebrow, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that.”  Perry stated as he crossed his arms over his bulky chest and slightly glared at the young woman.

The counselor just shrugged her shoulders and looked around at the scenery surrounding the bench on which they had been holding their counseling session.  She mindlessly checked her tape recorder to ensure that it was still recording.

“Maybe they’ll come around.”  The girl offered steadily without looking up from the tape recorder.

“Yeah, Ghandi will.  At least he’ll try.”  Perry said looking down at his counselor and catching her eye.  “Carla, not so much.  She’s as stubborn as I am.”

The older man paused for a moment before the counselor watched an uncomfortable look pass over his face.

“I’m afraid JD might have truly lost his best friend if Turk chooses his wife over his friend.”

Once more, the girl nodded and just quietly watched Dr. Cox as he sat on the bench lost in thought.

“He has a hard road before him.”  Perry finally stated softly, rousing himself out of his contemplation.

His counselor made an affirmative noise.  “Yes he has that and other challenges.”

Perry looked over at the girl and met her eyes directly.  “You mean he has a great deal of decisions to make don’t you.”

The young woman just looked at him.

And this time it was Perry who just nodded slowly.  “I guess he does.”

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_6 months later…_

“Do the terms professional boundaries or dual relationship mean anything to you two?”

JD looked over at Perry for a moment before turning his blue doe eyes towards the current counselor assigned to his case.

“And don’t try that look on me, JD.  I am neither one of your patients nor one of your numerous girlfriends.” The counselor concluded as she closed JD’s case notes that were in front of her.  “If you expect this counseling relationship to work, you need to understand that there are certain boundaries you cannot cross.  I understand that you are hurting due to the attack you suffered six months ago, the domestic abuse with your previous girlfriend and your friends’ abandonment of you; however, I cannot be your friend.  Your counselor, yes.”

JD continued to look up at her, “Why not we do it all the time at the hospital?”

Dr. Cox barely kept himself from sniggering. It was nice to have someone else being on the receiving end of JD’s undying affection. 

“And please don’t think you are being excluded from this conversation, Dr. Cox.  You too seem to have a problem with attempting to form dual relationships with your therapists.” The therapist looked over her glasses at the older doctor.  “Do not think that your offer to ‘come over and have a beer’ wasn’t the same thing as JD’s attempt to have a friendly dinner, Perry.  It was.”

“Now hold on a second…” Perry started in his defense.  There was no way that Newbie and him were anything alike.  In fact there was no way in hell that they were alike!

“Nagh, nagh, nagh Perry.”  The counselor cut him off before he could go into full rant mode.  Someone would have to pay for this later. “I don’t want to hear it.  I think both of you seriously need to think some things through before you return to your counseling session next week.”

Perry opened his month again to state that he was here voluntarily and in no way, shape or form did he have to do anything. 

The counselor cut him off.  Again. Someone was really going to pay for this embarrassment today.  He had a really good rant that he was going to give.  Perhaps JD would even write it down as one of the more impressive ones in the second edition of his _Doctor Perry Cox Rants and Wisdom_ book.

  “Yes I know you are only here for your protégé Perry.  Still if he is going to get better, he needs to realize that he has a great deal of attachment issues.” The counselor was looking directly at JD, who quickly shifted his attention to the floor. 

Upon hearing the deep inhale of Dr. Cox preparing to enter into another one of his famous rants (for who hadn’t heard of Dr. Cox.  He was famous in medical circles for being a great doctor and a proud S.O.B. and infamous in counseling circles for being a stubborn patient) the counselor turned her attention to the doctor.  Officially cutting him off before he could start one of his famous rants for the third time today.  “And you need to realize that you are overly defensive or this treatment may never work.  You have to meet me half way here.”

Cox opened his mouth to claim that he was not defensive at all, which by the way he knew was untrue, when a soft, little, but utterly defiant voice stopped him.

“I do not have attachment issues.” JD stated.

The counselor raised her eyebrow before glancing at Perry, who was currently staring at his Newbie in shock. Then as suddenly as Dr. Cox had entered his shock, he came back to life in full force. The counselor decided to allow Dr. Cox to handle JD for the moment.  A little ‘father-son’ advice was needed right now and JD needed to hear it from someone who had known him a long time and whom the younger doctor trusted.

“Of course Lucy you have attachment issues.” Dr. Cox argued while looking his Newbie straight in the eye.  “You have for as long as I have known you.  First you decided to attach yourself to Turtlehead, who decided to hang with his surgery buddies over you, only to return later on.  Then you attached yourself to me for some ungodly reason.  Over the course of the last eight years you have had more girlfriends and boyfriends in the past eight years than Gypsy Rose and half of the burlesque dancers of the twenties ever did in that amount of time.  Out of all those attachments you have ‘formed,’ only five have stuck. One to Jordan, one to Jack, one to J…. Jennifer, one to Sam and one to me.  Face it Jill, you attach to anyone around you like a needy parasite.”

It was during the rant that JD finally looked up at both the counselor and Perry.  His eyes were blazing with anger. “I did not!  I never have!  Tons of guys do that!  They’re supposed to, aren’t they?  Have sex with as many girls as possible?  Isn’t that how it goes?”

Then JD fell into silence just starring off into space. Perry glanced over at the counselor and she met his gaze. Perry was just about to turn back to Newbie and give him a piece of his mind when he caught sight of mouthing something.  He turned his complete attention towards her. 

She was mouthing, wait it out. Dr. Cox raised an eyebrow and was about to ignore her when he heard the soft voice again.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.” JD started, still staring off into space.  “I loved her.  Why didn’t she see that?  I never would have cared that the baby she told me was ours was really the product of a rape.  I would have supported her.  I tried to support her.  I tried to help her.  She just yelled and yelled at me.”

JD paused for a moment.  “She sounded so much like Mom had when she was drunk.  I think Elliot had started drinking around then or maybe not.  All I really remember is when **_it_** happened.  There was blood everywhere. I thought she had been dead for a moment, she was just lying in a pool of her own blood.”

Cox felt a tightness forming in his chest.  ‘ _Poor kid_.’

JD took a deep breath before focusing his attention on the counselor and Perry. “I dialed 911.  She woke up on the ambulance ride to the hospital.  She was really loopy from blood loss. I told the doctors at St. Vincent’s that she had just lost our baby. She started screaming her head off that I was lying and that I had killed the baby.  The two surgeons on call shot her up with a sedative and then called the police to have me arrested. The police dropped the investigation before the police could even question me in interrogation.  The CSI team had ruled it a miscarriage.”

Now JD was looking solely at Perry, making the older man feel extremely uncomfortable. “After she got out of the hospital she started beating me.  She has always been stronger than me.”

“Jennifer is stronger than you Polly.” Perry snarked without much heat.

JD just nodded and continued as if Dr. Cox had not really said anything at all.  “It was okay when she was just trying to hurt me.  I could take it.  But then she started trying to hurt Sammy.  That’s when I started making plans with Perry to come back to Sacred Heart.  I knew I had to leave her.  She had gone over the deep end.  The problem was though that she had been filling the minds of those two surgeons with lies about how I had killed ‘our’ baby because I had been jealous that she was sleeping with another man. She was the one who got them to attack me.  She set Kim up by inviting her to get a drink.  I had been walking by with Sammy after we had finished eating dinner at a local pizza place.  Kim had dropped him off there for me to take him for my weekend.”

Perry was gripping his chair’s arms to keep himself calm.  No matter how many times he heard the tale of events, it made him as angry as the first time he heard it.  And this was not even the most horrible part.

“Elliot set up Kim.  She was the one who told police that Kim had had a child in the bar.  I have no clue how she had managed to convince the fellow bar occupants that Kim had brought Sammy with her, but Elliot did.  She was the one who had pointed me out when I passed in front of the door. She set me up to be beaten and for my child to be traumatized. She left my child and me to rot in an ally way.  I managed to dial 911 before I passed out.”  JD had tears running down his cheeks by the point in time and Perry was fighting back his own.  No child desires to see or experience his or her parents being abused.

JD suddenly stopped talking.  He glanced down at his palms.  “When I woke up in the hospital, Perry was there.  He had told me that his mother-in-law had Sammy and their kids. Then Elliot arrived and she sent me into a delusion based on my own memories of the day that she had the miscarriage and my all encompassing desire to kill her for what she had allowed my child to witness.”

JD paused this time and made no move to continue.  Perry just stared at his miserable protégé for a moment, before slowly extending his hand and placing it over JD’s.  He hoped it would comfort the boy.  But what did he know; he was only good at this emotional, helpful stuff with his younger kids.  JD looked up at Perry and smiled slightly before returning his gaze back to the counselor.

“Around this time, Jordan, Perry’s ex-wife/current partner, told me that my best friend Turk and his wife and my friend Carla were coming to visit me.  They never came.  Apparently, Elliot had told them that I was only attention seeking and that it was nothing to be concerned about.  When Perry found this out, he was soo angry.”

The counselor glanced over at Dr. Cox.  The older doctor nodded that was a true account of his own emotional state at the time. 

“When Perry had me moved to Sacred Heart for treatment, Turk and Carla refused to believe that Elliot had set me up for this.  They kept saying how sweet she was and how I must have finally pissed off the wrong people with my month.  They even accused me of cheating on Elliot.  Even when the police report backed me up, they kept going.  Mostly, I think it was because Carla is Elliot’s best friend.  But Turk never defended me.  He just went along with what his wife said and remained wrapped up in his own little world.”

JD looked at Perry for a moment to gauge his mentor’s reaction and to see if he should continue.  Perry nodded slowly.  He hated seeing his Newbie suffer through these memories again, but he needed to talk about them.  The overly imaginative young man had been so silent since he came to live with Perry, Jordan and the kids after Perry released him from the hospital.  It was almost like something had broken in JD.

“When I started back to work four months ago as the Residency Director, Carla began to start rumors about how I had abused Elliot and had gotten Sammy almost killed. They were the same rumors that Elliot had been spreading about me at St. Vincent’s and then again in front of the Grand Jury. Perry stopped those rumors in their tracks.” JD smiled graciously at his mentor who grunted back at him. 

“Soon after the rumors began, Carla was suspended from work after openly starting an argument about the subject in front of five of the patients in the ICU.” JD continued slowly, now lonely looking at Perry. “Turk stopped talking to me completely after that.  He had been giving me the silent treatment for two months while I was recovering, but after Carla was suspended… it was if we had never been friends at all.”

Then JD fell silent and the counselor looked over at Perry. 

“Do you have anything you want to add?” She asked quietly.

Perry shook his head. This was one time he did not trust himself to speak.  The counselor nodded in understanding and turned back to JD.

“JD?” She called softly. JD did not respond to her “JD?”

This time JD looked up at her.

“How do you feel?” She asked softly.

JD automatically responded, “Crappy.” Then he seemed to fade out into his own little world.

The woman nodded and then turned for Perry. “Schedule your appointment for later this week.  I think JD needs an extra session this week.”

Perry nodded slowly and started to get up.  That was when JD came to once more. “Can we go home now?”

Perry nodded slowly.  “Yes, Ailia we can go home now.”

The older doctor watched as JD got up slowly and kind of shuffled out the door.  For once the older man’s despair was shown on his face.

He turned slowly towards the counselor. “Miss Morgan will he ever be… himself again?  I mean, will he ever be the happy go lucky kid again?”

The counselor looked at Perry for a long moment.  “Honestly, I cannot even say if he will be that man again.  Too much has happened for him to go back to being that person again.”

Perry nodded and remained uncharacteristically silent.  This was hitting him harder than he had ever expected.  He started to move toward the door.

“Perry.” The young woman called loudly.  Dr. Cox turned, inwardly cringing at the next batch of horrible news this counselor, this young, barely out of grad school girl, was going to give him now.

“He has a good prognosis.” The woman stated confidently.  “He won’t always be like this.”

“How do you know?  You have never seen what he is like at home.”  Perry shouted.  The unexpected noise caused the counselor to flinch back. “You sit here safely in your haven away from all of his problems, while I am busy trying to keep the boy together!”

“That’s how.”  The girl calmly replied.

“What’s how?  What are you talking about?” Dr. Cox cried out in frustration.  “Quit talking in riddles.”

“That’s the reason why he will get better.”  The girl responded once more. 

Perry graced her with a confused look.

 The young woman smiled and continued. “He has your family and you.  You have become that support system that he so desperately needs right now.  You care.”

Dr. Cox opened his mouth to tell the woman to quit spouting B.S. when he stopped, really thinking about what she was saying.  He nodded slowly.

Then he turned and walked out the door determined to find Newbie and take him home to their family.

‘God that kid and his counselor are going to give me a cavity with their sweet, goodie goodie sap.  They will I tell you, just you wait and see.’

 

The End

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
